Microsoft Project Changes in 2026

MS Project Announcement: Project Desktop Client Users, Everything's Gonna be Alright!

Microsoft Project Desktop Client - No Changes

The full version of Project Online is being officially retired on September 30th 2026. And, as my late Grandad used to say to his guests, "Thank you for coming, and thank you for leaving!".

The most important take home here, for most organisations, is that the Project Desktop Client is unaffected by this change and will not be going anywhere any time soon. Huge sigh of relief all round!

We know there have been rumours and confusion, and some of our clients have even started contacting us looking for alternatives to the Desktop Client. Rest assured though, you can keep using the Desktop Client.

For anyone who needs peace of mind, you can find Microsoft's official announcement here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/plannerblog/microsoft-project-online-is-retiring-what-you-need-to-know/4450558

For those who need to migrate from the full version of Project Online we recommend the following:

Look at the Project Server Subscription Edition (SE). This on-premise Project Server should have the capabilities you need and it has PowerShell built in (we do love ourselves a bit of PowerShell, although we know some think its old-fashioned).
Keep yourself up-to-date with the integration between Planner, To Do, Project for the Web and Copilot (and the Project Manager agent). This baby may have legs (and a lot of them). The thing to take note of here is whether (and when) this solution feels stable.

It's been evolving over the past few years and can feel like it's in a constant state of flux. Project managers need to feel like they're on solid ground and you'll need to make a subjective value judgement about the benefits of adoption versus the pace of change.
There are also third-party vendors getting in on the act with replacements for Project Online. If you explore these, don't only take into consideration their functionality. Also, you've got to take into account the availability of training resource and the support you need to use these products effectively. Training skills for the full version of Project Online are already scarce enough.

Project Online has always been quite an 'odd fellow' in the Microsoft family of products. It's never really been updated since it first came out 10 years ago and it's never really had it's own unique, iconic identity.

Think of almost any Microsoft product and you can picture the logo in your mind. By contrast, when I try and conjure up Project Online in my head it always feels amorphous and ill-defined.

Your Project Online functionality may already have been impacted as early as April 2025 when SharePoint 2013 workflows were switched off. So (as with most things in life), the best time to act was probably a year or more ago.

In the grand scheme of things though, this has impacted comparatively few organisations compared to the affect that any change to the Desktop Client would have done, and the main repercussions we are seeing thus far is confusion over whether the Desktop Client will still be available. Some organisations we encounter are already making procurement decisions based on this misunderstanding when they contact us.

So, to reiterate, for any organisations that depend upon the Desktop Client, everything is going to be okay! Don't worry, the software isn't going anywhere and you don't need to find a replacement if it meets your needs.

Available Microsoft Project Courses

What Microsoft Project courses can you choose from?

Desktop MS Project Courses (2019, 2021, 2024 and the Project Online Desktop Client)

MS Project Beginners: One day course
MS Project Intermediate: One day course
MS Project Advanced: One day course

MS Project Online Courses

Introduction to Project Online for Users: - Two to three day course
MS Project Online for Administrators: - Four day course

Popular Microsoft Office Courses

What other Microsoft Office courses are available?

Microsoft 365 Courses: Microsoft 365 Master Class

Microsoft 365 User

Microsoft 365 Overview

Office Online for Small Business Users

Office 365 Advanced User

Office 365 Power User

Microsoft Teams Configure and Manage

Microsoft Teams End User
Excel Courses: Beginners | Intermediate | Advanced | Masterclass | VBA for Excel | Excel Power Query
PowerPoint Courses: Beginners | Advanced | PPT Specialist Designer
Word Courses: Beginners | Intermediate | Advanced
Outlook Courses: Beginners | Intermediate | Advanced
MS Project Courses: Beginners | Intermediate | Advanced

MS Project Courses North West of England Region

MS Project Courses Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside: Bolton, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Warrington, Altrincham, Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Oldham

MS Project Courses Cheshire and Wirral: Birkenhead, Chester, Stockport, Ellesmere Port, Knutsford, Wallasey, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Crewe

MS Project Courses North East of England Region

MS Project Courses Northumberland and Tyneside: Alnwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Morpeth, Hexham, Berwick-upon-Tweed

MS Project Courses County Durham: Durham, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Gateshead, Washington, Hartlepool

MS Project Courses Yorkshire and the Humber Region

MS Project Courses West Yorkshire: Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Brighouse, Wakefield, Shipley, Dewsbury, Bingley

MS Project Courses North Yorkshire: York, Harrogate, Scarborough, Whitby, Northallerton, Middlesbrough

MS Project Courses South Yorkshire: Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Worksop

MS Project Courses Humberside / East Riding of Yorkshire: Kingston-upon-Hull, Bridlington

MS Project Courses East Midlands Region

MS Project Courses Northamptonshire: Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough

MS Project Courses Lincolnshire: Lincoln, Market Rasen, Grantham, Sleaford, Boston, Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe, Grimsby

MS Project Courses Nottinghamshire: Nottingham, Mansfield, Worksop, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Southwell, Long Eaton, Alfreton

MS Project Courses Derbyshire: Derby, Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne

MS Project Courses Leicestershire: Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Coalville, Lutterworth

MS Project Courses West Midlands Region

MS Project Courses West Midlands county & Warwickshire: Birmingham, Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Walsall

MS Project Courses Staffordshire: Cannock, Lichfield, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent

MS Project Courses Worcestershire: Dudley, Evesham, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Malvern, Worcester

MS Project Courses East of England Region

MS Project Courses Norfolk: Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Dereham, Cromer, Hunstanton

MS Project Courses Suffolk: Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Haverhill, Bungay

MS Project Courses Essex: Chelmsford, Basildon, Romford, Southend, Colchester, Harlow, Brentwood, West Ham

MS Project Courses Cambridgeshire: Cambridge, Peterborough, Wisbech, Ely, March, Whittlesey, Chatteris, Linton

MS Project Courses Hertfordshire: Hertford, Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Hatfield

MS Project Courses Bedfordshire: Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Biggleswade, Sandy

MS Project Courses Greater London Region

MS Project Courses London Central: London, Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith, Haringey, Islington, Kensington, Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, City of Westminster

MS Project Courses London East: Bethnal Green, Bow, Chingford, East Ham, Hackney, Manor Park, Plaistow, Stratford, Victoria Dock, Walthamstow, South Woodford

MS Project Courses London South West: Chelsea, Clapham, Earls Court, South Kensington, Stockwell, West Brompton

MS Project Courses Battersea: Barnes, Mortlake, Putney, Streatham, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, West Wimbledon

MS Project Courses Paddington: Chiswick, Ealing, Hammersmith, Kensington, Maida Vale, North Kensington, Notting Hill, Shepherds Bush, West Ealing, West Kensington

MS Project Courses South West of England Region

MS Project Courses Somerset: Taunton, Bath, Bridgwater, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Wells, Glastonbury

MS Project Courses Dorset: Dorchester, Bournemouth, Poole, Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Wimborne Minster, Weymouth

MS Project Courses Wiltshire: Trowbridge, Salisbury, Swindon, Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Warminster

MS Project Courses Gloucestershire: Gloucester, Bristol, Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, Tewkesbury

MS Project Courses South East of England Region

MS Project Courses Berkshire: Reading, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Newbury, Windsor, Wokingham

MS Project Courses Buckinghamshire: Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Buckingham, High Wycombe

MS Project Courses Oxfordshire: Oxford, Abingdon, Banbury, Witney, Bicester, Henley-on-Thames, Carterton, Thame

MS Project Courses Hampshire: Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Newport

MS Project Courses Kent: Maidstone, Canterbury, Bromley, Rochester, Margate, Folkestone, Dover, Greenwich

MS Project Courses East and West Sussex: Chichester, Brighton, Worthing, Crawley, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Horsham